SOCA foil £80million cocaine plot

23 February 2010

Three members of a drug trafficking gang have been jailed for a total of 65 years for their roles in a plot to supply 299 kilos of high purity cocaine. Had the drugs been cut and sold at typical street level purity, they would have a value of more than £80m.

Undercover SOCA officers infiltrated the gang last March – posing as criminals who could arrange delivery of the cocaine - and after a number of meetings a 'handover' took place near to an industrial estate in Markfield, Leicestershire, on 22 April 2009. A van containing the bales of cocaine was then stopped by armed officers on the southbound carriageway of the M1 motorway. The driver was arrested.

Unemployed Colombian national Fernando Hurtado (DoB 2/9/68), of Fairview Avenue, Woking, Surrey, and British national John Albert Esqulant (DoB 6/12/57), of Blackacre Road, Theybon Bois, Essex, who was a London taxi driver, were arrested on the same day at addresses in the capital. 

Both men were sentenced on 12 February to 28 years for conspiracy to supply cocaine following a four and a half week trial at Leicester Crown Court.

Gang member Frank John Stedman (DoB 10/8/83), of Cunningham Rise, North Weald, Essex, was arrested on 18 June 2009 as he stepped off a plane at Heathrow Airport. He pleaded guilty to the same offence and was jailed for nine years.

A SOCA spokesperson said: "These men thought they could make a lot of money through drug trafficking but they were wrong. Our officers were one step ahead of them and made sure their plan failed."

The man driving the van, who was also on trial, was found not guilty.

During the operation, the undercover officers were given £320,800 as part payment for the delivery service they were offering. This was seized under the Proceeds of Crime Act. SOCA is continuing to investigate the gang's finances, and a confiscation hearing will take place later this year.